Argentum
by Adair In Wonderland
Summary: Toboe was bathed in silver and everything was suddenly so startlingly clear. Tsume/Toboe


Disclaimer: I do not own Wolf's Rain

Warning: Shounen-ai, yaoi, whichever you'd prefer to call it... And, of course, my poor attempts at symbolism. Be aware. Rated T to be super safe...

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**Argentum**

The moon was full and unbelievably large. Tsume felt that if he extended his arm, he'd be able to pluck the glowing orb right out of the sky and hold its cold mass between his long, calloused fingers. And in his hand, it would still be just as bright.

While the others slept, he was awake. He had laid there with them under the tree they had all decided to curl up under, feigning sleep, staring at the stars through half-lidded eyes, until he was sure he was the only one awake. With the sound of Hige's soft snoring filling the air around them, he had quietly snuck off, weaving an aimless path through the dark forest, twigs snapping under his feet as he walked. Moonlight was streaming brokenly through the canopy of trees, illuminating small portions of the green darkness that surrounded him with an eerie whiteness. He continued on, directionless, his mind traveling down a separate path while his body moved forward.

And then he'd found it, just stumbled upon it, the sudden brightness stopping him dead in his tracks, forcing his mind to return to his surroundings. It was a clearing, almost a perfect ring in the middle of the forest devoid of trees, allowing the cold light of the moon to stream in unhindered by the crowding of leaves and branches. Tsume looked up, gazing at the other perfect circle that was hanging in the sky, its celestial body seeming to fill the entire night sky. Moving forward, he went to one of the many gray boulders that littered the area and sat, eyes drifting to the small pond at his feet. Its curved shore provided a definite contrast to the dirt and grass it skirted, its waters brightly reflecting the silver of the moon, another gleam in the darkness. It was like a piece of the heavens had liquified and fallen to earth, created a small crater to hold its light.

Closing his eyes, Tsume inhaled deeply. He had come out here to think, to try and organize the jumble of confused thoughts that assaulted his mind on a daily basis, not stare awestruck at his surroundings. There was too much inside of him. His past, his present and his uncertain future were all fighting in his head, bearing their teeth at each other, making it impossible to form a clear thought, making it impossible to move forward with any certainty.

He continued to sit and think, chin resting against his fist. Even with his eyes closed he could still see the light around him glaring through the thin flesh of his eyelids - a soft whiteness creeping through the blackness of his vision. And he could _feel _it. He could feel that radiance tingling across his tanned skin. Like dust in a breeze, it skimmed across every part of him that wasn't wrapped tightly in leather and sunk beneath, infusing his body with this strange awareness he couldn't quite define.

Not that it helped. He still didn't know what to do or what to say. Everyday, he could sense himself resisting some unknown idea, a tiny animal lurking in the darkened corners of his brain, pushing it down further and further within himself until all recollection of what it might have been vanished into the depths of his consciousness. And everyday, that forsaken animal would howl, rear up and scratch at his insides, desperate to be acknowledged, desperate to be set free. He could feel it tearing away at his peace of mind, eroding his calm, chipping at the stone he had encased his soul in. Day by day, it would fester, and he did not know what to do.

He started slightly, his chin slipping off his hand, as a faint jingling noise entered his hearing, a distinct, yet soft clinking of metal against metal. Opening his eyes, he was blinded for a moment by the intensity of the moon's light. A warm, familiar scent invaded his nostrils.

"Tsume..." he heard a childish voice whisper, the quiet sound amplified by the surrounding silence. Turning his head, he saw Toboe standing there, bathed in silver, and everything was suddenly so startlingly clear. He stood, his mind racing, that animal screaming at him, and clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms. There it was. That was it.

"What are you doing, Tsume?" Toboe's voice was like bells. He titled his head to the side, his large eyes searching the gray wolf's still form for an answer.

"Thinking..." he ground out, the word tasting like salt. He stiffened when the other began to approach him, the space between them dwindling to a few congested feet.

"Why? You can't sleep? What are you thinking about?" Toboe smiled as he spoke, the words tumbling out of his mouth in a flurry, his eyebrows raising fractionally as he regarded the other with nothing but genuine interest and concern.

Tsume remained silent. In this light, Toboe looked angelic, his skin appearing pale white and translucent, his eyes reflecting the heavens. Every nerve ending in his body was alive and bristling, sending electricity coursing through him straight to that hidden, suppressed existence within that he'd been fighting for so long. And he knew. He _knew_.

"Tsume?" There was that voice again, wondering at his silence, breaking through every barrier he'd spent a lifetime building.

He moved forward carefully, his mind resisting and his instincts driving him on, forcing him to bridge the gap between the two of them. Stopping before him, the distance between them reduced to a few measly, suffocating inches, he raised his arms, his large hands coming to rest on the smaller wolf's slim shoulders.

"... Tsume?" That whisper, that ghost of his name laced with more breath than sound, was the trigger, the final validation to every uncertainty within him. Toboe's wide, silver-tinted eyes were turned up towards him, his mouth hanging open with an unvoiced question.

Tsume faltered for just a moment, his mind reeling back into its earlier disarray and denial in a last failing effort of defense, before he leaned forward, crushing their lips together. Gasping at the sudden contact, Toboe jumped, his bracelets clinking together loudly as his arms flew up in shock.

"Tsu-Tsume?!"

The gray wolf swallowed his name, caught it and let it fall down between them. He pushed his tongue into Toboe's warm mouth, finally tasting the flesh that went along with that intoxicatingly comforting scent. Toboe leaned into him, his small hands coming up to his shoulders as his surprise apparently dissipated, his lithe body pressed unbearably close.

Tsume held him tightly, his head moving to the crook of his shoulder and nuzzling in the soft skin, his eyes closed as he inhaled deeply. That whiteness was still creeping in. He could feel Toboe's hands moving across his back, could hear quiet whimpers, could feel the small body in his arms quivering ever so slightly. Placing a gentle kiss on his neck, he opened his eyes and looked straight into the core of the full, glowing moon.

They stood there in silence for a moment, hanging on desperately to each other as though the air around them might fight to tear them apart.

"Tsume."

Again, his name passed through the lips of his companion, but there was no question hanging off it, no exclamation of surprise, just a gentle affirmation wrapped in two familiar syllables.

"Toboe..." he echoed, offering his own reciprocation, offering himself up to this thing that had taken hold so long ago.

Under the light of the moon, they stood in their embrace, the cold, lingering air filling their lungs brittlely, leaving their mouths warmly to puff into white clouds that ghosted over glowing flesh. And it was right. They were bathed in silver, and it was right.

**FIN**

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Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it. Argentum is Latin for silver, so, if you didn't know that now you do, and hopefully all of this makes sense.

Anyway... Review? Let me know what you think? I would truly and greatly appreciate it. Please and thank you. ^_^


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